Infectious Diseases

John A. Sellick Jr., DO, professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, joined a WGRZ-TV town hall meeting to discuss the CDC ruling regarding fully vaccinated people.

Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, is quoted in a story comparing the Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. “Although the study data suggests that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine may not be as good at preventing minor, trivial infections that don’t result in hospitalizations, the trials were not equivalent,” Russo said. “They were done at different times, there were more variants circulating when the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was tested, and its antibody response actually improves over time. So, I suspect that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will actually close that gap compared to the RNA vaccines and will look even better in preventing less serious infections than the initial study data.” 

John A. Sellick Jr., DO, professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, is interviewed about whether people can take ibuprofen and acetaminophen together. If you have a fever or body aches and cycling through ibuprofen and acetaminophen in appropriate doses isn’t helping, you technically can take both medications at once as long as you “dose the drugs carefully and on the correct schedule so that toxicity will be minimized,” Sellick said. “Too much acetaminophen is liver toxic; ibuprofen can be kidney toxic.” 

An article on Mashable about why all three U.S. virus vaccines are excellent quotes Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases. “All of them look great at preventing disease that results in hospitalization and death,” Russo said. The story was also carried by MSN.

Yahoo! sites in the U.S. and internationally quoted John A. Sellick Jr., DO, professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, in a story about the CDC publishing its “Zombie Preparedness” section on its website. “I think it’s great,” Sellick said. “As we’ve seen with coronavirus, disaster preparedness is crucial.” While the packaging is quirky, Sellick points out that the underlying message — to be prepared for the unexpected — is important, and incredibly relevant right now. “Bottled water, flour, disinfectant spray, toilet paper … a year ago, it didn’t matter how much money you had. You couldn’t get your hands on certain things,” he says. “Having a stockpile at home could have helped carry some of us through. Clearly, most of us did not have adequate supplies of things.”

An article originally published in Prevention magazine quoted Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases. Russo said “experts expect some people will get infected after being fully vaccinated,” according to the article. “What we’re interested in is whether these cases are mild, symptomatic or asymptomatic,” Russo said. Other publications reprinted the article or utilized Russo’s quotes.

An article in Bustle about when life may return to normal quotes John A. Sellick Jr., DO, professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, who said: “The process will be gradual, and there is not a magic number at which we can declare herd immunity. As we see these case numbers and look at them in conjunction with antibody test positives, percentage of the population immunized, and so on, we will have a much better idea of where we stand.”

WKBW quoted Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, in a story on whether more vaccine sites in Erie County could lead to more groups eligible for vaccinations. “It’s great news for Erie County and all of Western New York,” said Russo. “The vaccine supply will increase over the next couple of weeks.” Also quoted in the story was Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health policy and a member of the WNY Vaccination Planning Team. “If we get vaccines rolling in, then yes, we will give it to everybody,” said Nielsen, clinical professor of medicine.

An article in Bustle on how COVID-19 vaccines could slow transmission quotes John A. Sellick Jr., DO, professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, who said while the most important measure of the vaccines is their ability to prevent severe disease and death, transmission is a big deal, too. “If the vaccines stop the COVID virus from breeding in your throat and lungs, you’ll carry a lot less of it around, and won’t spread it to others,” according to the article. “While it is unlikely that these vaccines completely stop replication,” Sellick said, “there is evidence that significant proportions of it can in fact be stopped. This will lessen the chance that the vaccinated person will shed virus that then can be transmitted to other people.”

Articles on some states lifting their mask requirements quotes Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases. “Close spaces that are crowded with poor ventilation is the feeding ground for this virus,” Russo said. “By lifting both of them simultaneously, you’re just asking the virus to go ahead and do its thing that it’s already demonstrated it’s so good at.” 

Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, is quoted in stories that report a new symptom known as “COVID tongue” has been detected in which patients experience bumps, inflammation and swelling on the tongue. “Many physicians focus on the heart, lungs and abdomen, In the age of COVID-19, they pass on examining the mouth even more because it can increase their risk of getting infected. This has probably been missed in a lot of individuals,” he said.

Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, is quoted in articles about Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine. Russo called the vaccine’s much-less-fragile state which can stay stable in a normal refrigerator for up to three months “a big advantage.” 

WGRZ reported on when life will return to normal following COVID-19 and quoted Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases. “We are really doing great here in Erie County and in Western New York,” Russo said. “All of our numbers are looking great and most importantly total hospitalizations is as low as they’ve been since mid-November. I'm hoping our numbers are going to be very low in terms of cases and the proportion of people vaccinated and having some level of protection sometime in June. If we continue at our present pace, having a much more normal June, July and August is quite realistic.”

During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of medical professionals say that they like to wear surgical-style face coverings outside of work. Timothy F. Murphy, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, says he doubles up on surgical face coverings. “When I go out, I have taken to wearing two surgical masks — one knotted for a snug fit, to take advantage of both the extra layers and the snug fit to maximize protection of myself and others,” he says.

Scientists are keeping a close eye on SARS-CoV-2’s variants in order to understand how genetic changes to the virus might impact its infectiousness (and thus, its spread), the severity of illness, treatment and the effectiveness of the vaccines available, says Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases. A variant of SARS-CoV-2 known as B.1.1.7 has been spreading throughout the United Kingdom since December 2020, and now cases are cropping up all around the world. In South Africa, another variant of SARS-CoV-2 known as B.1.351 emerged. It has a some similarities with the U.K. variant.